Two '60 Minutes' Defendants Cleared

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, July 2, 2003

A federal judge has dismissed two defendants from a $6.4 billion defamation lawsuit over a CBS "60 Minutes" report about Jefferson County's reputation for large jury awards.

The two _ florist Beau Strittman and Wyatt Emmerich, who owns Emmerich Newspapers Inc. _ were among defendants in the lawsuit by nine former Jefferson County jurors over the "60 Minutes" segment "Jackpot Justice."

In his order Monday, U.S. District Judge David Bramlette said he dismissed the two because their comments were not clearly directed toward the plaintiffs. Bramlette also refused the plaintiffs' request to send the case back to state court, where it was originally filed.

Strittman _ who won a nonjury settlement in a lawsuit over the obesity drug Redux _ said juries "awarded these people this money because they felt as if they were going to get a cut off of it."

Strittman said he was joking and thought he was off camera when he made the comment.

Emmerich described Jefferson County jurors as disenfranchised residents who want to stick it to Yankee companies.

"The African Americans feel like it's payback for disenfranchisement. And the rednecks, shall we say, it's like, `Hey, you know, get back at' _ revenge for the Civil War. And it's very easy to weave this racial conflict and this class conflict into a big money pot for the attorneys."

Emmerich said his remarks were aimed at the jury system in general, not any specific jury.

The plaintiffs served on juries that awarded $150 million in separate asbestos and diet drug cases. They are seeking $597 million in actual damages and $5.9 billion in punitive damages.